This invention relates to chaff dispersing and more particularly to dispersed chaff dipoles which have improved fall rate.
Chaff is known to be primarily an electromagnetic reflector material used for military purposes as a countermeasure against enemy radars. Chaff may be made of solid metallic elements of a specific length and diameter. Also, it may be made of small non-metallic elements coated with a thin coating of a particular metal, thus bringing about a savings of metal. Millions of these elements may be packaged into a dispenser and dispersed as necessary to present false target information to confuse the enemy. Chaff is typically packaged in units about twice the size of a cigarette pack. When individual fibers of such a unit are widely dispersed in the atmosphere they create a radar echo similar to that of a small aircraft. If a stronger echo is wanted, one dispenses two or three units simultaneously.
The effects produced by chaff depend upon the manner in which it is used. If the bundles are dropped continuously (a continuous or stream drop) they will cause a long line of radar returns across a PPI scope. Several side by side stream drops will form a chaff corridor and an aircraft flying within that corridor cannot be seen by certain radars using certain frequencies. These applications of chaff constitute a form of jamming.
Chaff bundles may also be dropped randomly (a random drop) in which case the radar scope may become filled with chaff returns so that the radar operator has difficulty finding the aircraft. This is a deception technique similar to false target generation. Finally, chaff may be dropped in bursts of several bundles. Against a tracking radar, a chaff burst will create a larger radar echo than the dropping vehicle. Thus, the radar will tend to lock on to the chaff rather than the aircraft. This technique is thus very similar to track breaking. In this role, chaff is used also for ship protection